Living the Christian life is the most rewarding life—if it is lived the way God wants it to be lived. Although God has saved His children from an eternal punishment, it does not mean the Christian life is full of rainbows and fluffy pink clouds of comfort and bliss. God never said that living the Christian life is easy, He has only told His children to trust Him for everything—and anything. How often do Christians take their salvation for granted and choose to live for themselves? Then justify their actions by saying, “I’m going to heaven anyways, I can live whatever way I want to live”? As a Christian chooses to live his life that way, we hear Paul exclaim “God forbid!” as he does throughout the New Testament. One might not think of the book of Hebrews when the topic of a backslidden or lukewarm Christian is addressed, however, it does address this issue. Although this book was originally written to Jewish converts, Gentile believers may also apply its teachings to their lives, while “rightly dividing the word of truth” (1 Tim. 2:15). The book of Hebrews is known for its “Hall of Faith”: it highlights men and women of faith throughout the Old Testament and believers in time past and today look to these men and women as examples for living their own Christian lives. Of course, there are two sides to every coin: if there is faith, there must be faithlessness. The writer writes about several warnings that every born-again believer should keep in mind daily as they are living.
First, the believer is warned against carelessness (Bowler) and disregarding the salvation of God (2:1-4) (Philips). Most of the time, Christians do not outright say that they will disobey God and live for themselves; it is often a gradual process. If a per...
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...D. *BI 317 Hebrews Notes. Ajax, ON: FaithWay Baptist College of Canada, 13 March 2014. Lecture Notes.
Newell, William Reed. Hebrews: Verse by Verse. Chicago: Moody, 1947. Print.
Phillips, John. Exploring Hebrews: An Expository Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2002. Print.
Phillips, John. Exploring the New Testament Book by Book: An Expository Survey. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic & Professional, 2009. Print.
Waite, D. A., and S. H. Tow. The Defined King James Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments Translated out of the Original Tongues and with the Former Translations Diligently Compared and Revised by His Majesty's Special Command. Collingswood, NJ: Bible For Today, 1998. Print.
Williams, Michael James. How to Read the Bible through the Jesus Lens: A Guide to Christ-focused Reading of Scripture. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011. Print.
The Bible: The Old Testament. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Ed. Sarah Lawall et al. Vol 1. 7th ed. New York: Norton, 1999. 47-97.
The Holy Bible Containing the Old Testament and the New. Cambridge: Printed by John Field ..., 1668. Print.
In this passage of the second letter to the Corinthians, Paul addresses several concerns. He is addressing the situation of a man who has sinned not only against himself, but against the Corinthian Church as well. He explains why he wrote a letter rather than bringing sorrow upon them. Paul is sensitive to the Lord’s leading, and in love, writes to the church encouraging them to discipline this man in love for the purpose of restoring him. He urges the Corinthians to be obedient and love the man through forgiving and encouraging him. Paul shares with them his trust in the Lord for the outcome of this matter and how burdened he was for restoration to take place. He warns them of the need to not allow Satan a foothold through this matter. Finally, Paul puts the focus on Christ; for it is in Him that we are adequate thereby becoming His fragrance to others.
...yne A. The HarperCollins Study Bible New Revised Standard Edition . New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993. 1645-1722. Print.
Gomes, Peter J. The Good Book: Reading the Bible with Mind and Heart. New York: Morrow, 1996.
The Bible shows God constantly pursuing His people and man rejecting him over and over again. This passage displays this ongoing struggle by showing all Jesus did for us and how the people still shunned and rejected him. However, this passage also gives reassurance that it is never too late to repent and accept the Lord. This passage displays some important themes of the Bible: man’s redemption, God’s forgiveness and grace, and the blessing of a relationship with God. This passage is essentially the message of the Bible in one small
(Michigan;Dunham Publishing Company,1969). pages 76-108 Other resources: Strong’s Concordance young’s Analytical Concordance Harper’s Bible Dictionary NIV Application Commentary
Christianity has its challenges. It places demands on us that set us apart from the rest of our world. The bible calls us a peculiar people, who navigate the challenge of living IN the world, without being OF the world. When we say ‘no’ to temptations that are enjoyed by the masses, we are labeled as self-righteous snobs, religious weirdoes, or worse. But we persevere, and we press toward that invisible line the Apostle Paul drew in the sands of time…for the high calling in Christ Jesus.
New International Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997. Osborne, Grant R. Revelation. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002.
Bromiley, Geoffrey William, Fredrich, Gerhard, Kittel, Gerhard. “Theological Dictionary of the New Testament.” Struttgart, Germany. W. Kohlhammer Verlag. 1995. Print.
The book of Hebrews is a unique portion of the Bible because it is written as though it were a letter, directed at people the writer may have known. However, the book targets a seemingly broad audience of those without faith and also those that could be described as believers that have experienced persecution. A salient message within Hebrews is that people must persevere when they feel persecuted because Jesus Christ is their salvation, regardless of anything else that is happening in the people’s lives. An emphasis on the greatness of Jesus and his role as a mediator between God and those on Earth is dominant throughout the chapters and verses.
Carson, D, & Moo, D. (2005) An introduction to the New Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
The New Oxford Annotated Bible. Herbert G. May and Bruce M. Metzger, ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1957.
Unger, Merrill F. The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Ed. R. K. Harrison, Howard F. Vos, and Cyril J. Barber. Chicago: Moody, 1988. Print.